


Press Conference Confession

by Lizphills500



Category: Captain America, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Implied/Referenced Torture, Loki Feels, M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Natasha, Steve Feels, Steve Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 03:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4085317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizphills500/pseuds/Lizphills500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I simply wish to know my enemy.  Thor and Stark are open books; I have seen the Beast up close and would rather avoid a second meeting.  I have been in Barton mind and you, my dear, carry your heart on your selves, as you would say, dispute your efforts to hide it.  The Captain is an enigma, he looks so simple but there are so many layers.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The press room was stuffy and Loki was finding his dress shirt sticking to his back. The great Captain America was answering questions on the collapse of SHIELD and the Avengers HQ moving to the outskirts of New York. The press were sharks, biting at the man’s heels, but Captain America never wavered, answering every question calmly and as completely as possible. He wore his uniform but not the cowl, so he had many in the room swooning over his chiselled features, bright blue eyes and blood hair.   
Loki was so wrapped up watching the all American dream rule the room, he completely missed the Black Widow slide into the empty seat next to him. He jumped when she whispered in his ear “You know, your here for every press conference and photo shoot, don’t you?” 

“I work for the New York Times, miss. I should be here as often as I can, Captain America is big news.” Replied Loki, trying the sound like a reporter. He had changed to glamour to appear as a balding, short man in his 50’s with glasses. He should have been invisible. 

“Come on, Loki. I learnt how to see past your glamour a long time ago, give me some credit.” 

Loki eyes flashed green. “Very well, Widow. It would seem you have caught me. What do you do now, I wonder? There are a lot of innocents here; I would not recommend a fight.” 

Natasha smiled. “I'm not going to fight you. As far as I know, you not up to anything evil right now, but I do want to know something. You come to every public event that Rogers is present at. Not ever any of the other avengers, just Rogers. Hell, I've seen you as a women and dancing with him. Why?” 

“I simply wish to know my enemy. Thor and Stark are open books; I have seen the Beast up close and would rather avoid a second meeting. I have been in Barton mind and you, my dear, carry your heart on your selves, as you would say, dispute your efforts to hide it. The Captain is an enigma, he looks so simple but there are so many layers.” 

Natasha nodded at this. She couldn't argue with Loki assessment of her leader, but that fact that Loki was here still bothered her. “All these years of quite, are you in retirement or is this part of a master plan” 

“Widow, you have been dealing with Victor to much. I am not the type to unveil my plans and then to give you time to find my weaknesses. I am afraid you will have to wait for the main event.” 

Captain America had just wrapped up the interview and looked across to Natasha. He nodded to her, but then spotted the man she was talking to. The Widow’s keen senses caught him start, and she was sure that Loki and the captain eyes locked. It was over in an instant and she wondered if she has imagined it. She turned to Loki again, to find he had vanished. 

 

Back at Avengers HQ, Natasha waited for Steve to speak to her about what she had seen. When he didn't, she decided to try and sneak up on him. She found him packing a bag. Since they uncovered the truth about the Winter Soldier, Steve had taken to staying a few nights a month in Brooklyn, hoping that Bucky would come back home. There was no luck so far but Steve kept trying. 

“Hey Steve, you off for a few days?” Natasha asked, already knowing the answer. 

“I have to keep looking. Now Sam is living here, this could be my only shot at finding Bucky.” Steve answered. 

“Steve it OK, I understand. Do you want some company?” again she knew the answer. 

“I need you here for now. I'm only a phone call away, but right now I want either you or me here at all times. They’re good, but not a team. It’s not like we can kill Coulson again to bring us together.” Some might have thought this bad taste, but the Avengers had discovered that Phil was if fact not dead, and was now trying to salvage what was left of SHIELD. 

“By the way” continued Steve “what did that reporter want? You two seemed very friendly; he didn't seem your type.” 

It was Natasha that had now been caught off guard. She looked at the Captain, but could see nothing but idol curiosity. Looks like she had been wrong, but there was still something in the back of her mind that just would not let up. “He wanted to try and get a one on one, thought I was your press secretary.” 

Steve snorted “Well the jobs yours if you want. Tony told me you made a great PA.” 

The Black Widow punched Captain America hard in the arm. She hurt her knuckles but it was worth it. Natasha walked Steve to his bike, giving him a hug before seeing him off. Half hour after he left, she was in her sports car heading to Brooklyn, she didn't need to follow him, she knew where his was going. 

 

Steve slipped his key in the lock and opened his apartment door. He was met by the sound of the shower in his bathroom. He looked round the room, and noted the bags of groceries on the kitchen top and dirty sheets piled up by the bedroom door from the bed. Someone was here. The bathroom door opened and Loki stepped out hair still wet, wearing slacks and nothing else. The two men looked at each other, waiting to see who would make first move. 

“Loki” 

“Captain” 

Steve rushed Loki. He scooped the god into his arms, finding Loki’s lips with his own. Loki’s fingers snaked up Steve’s back and tangled in his hair. 

“I've missed you” whispered Steve as he dropped to kiss Loki’s neck. 

“Show me” Loki demanded hoarsely. Needing no further invitation, Steve lifted his lover and carried him into the bedroom. 

 

Natasha sat in her car, watching the apartment block. She knew he was there. She had seen him go out around 6 and come back a half hour later with takeaway boxes. It seemed a little much for one person, but then with his metabolism, she seen him put away a lot of food. Around 10, all the lights went off in the apartment and the Widow settled in for the night. 

After an afternoon spent exploring each all over again, Steve was sent out to get food as neither had the energy for cooking. Pigged out, they sat on the couch, cuddling. 

“I asked Natasha but I think she may have lied to me. I'm guessing she made you at the press conference, right” asked Steve, drawing circles on Loki’s arms with his fingers. 

Loki nodded. “She says she can see though my glamour. She was trying to figure out why I come to your public appearances. She even knew about the party.” 

“Did you tell her?” Steve asked 

“That I attend every event, so I at least can see the man I love even if I can not be with him and make sure someone unworthy does not make off with him.” Steve laughed at Loki’s answer wishing he could have told her that. Loki rested his head on Steve’s shoulder before continuing “I told her that I was looking for weaknesses in Captain America.” 

“Did you tell her my biggest weakness was sat right next to her?” 

“No that is one I kept all to myself” 

“Because you are, you know. You are the single most important thing in my life.” 

“As you are to me” 

The apartment fell into silence as the couple began a long slow warm up which would end with the both sated in bed. Sleep claimed them both, the best that either had had in weeks. 

Steve was up early next morning. He headed out touring all the old hunts that he and Bucky shared as children. No one had seen him. He went further a field this time, going to places they only went to once or twice . Nothing. Steve came back in the late afternoon, despondent and tired and went and sat at the desk in the bed room looking over his notes about the search. Loki knew better then to push when he was like this. He left him to his thoughts and regrets, providing food knowing that it wouldn't be eaten. 

Steve resurfaced from the past in the early evening. He left the bedroom to find Loki sleeping on the couch. He watched him for a while, trying to figure why he was still here. He loved Loki with all his heart, but Loki had to share him with his obsession with another man who didn’t want to be found. Anyone else would have walked away, should have walked away, but there was Loki, still there, still loving him back. 

Steve walked to the couch and kneeling, ran his fingers through Loki’s long black locks. This woke Loki up. 

“Are you well, my love?” Loki asked trying to gauge the mood. Steve wasn't sure how to answer that so asked his question in return. 

“Do you ever get tired of this?” 

Loki raised an eyebrow. This was new and unexpected and Loki knew would involve the Widow somehow. 

Steve carried on. “Don’t you ever wish this would stop, the pretence I mean? I can’t walk out that door, holding your hand without you having to hide behind a mask. I can’t tell one of my closest friends that I have an amazing person in my life in case she wants to shoot him. Doesn't it bother you at all?” 

Loki took deep breath. This would take all him skill as a word-smith, he could not make a mistake or he may lose Steve. 

“I want to paint our love across the sky; I want to proclaim to the nine realms that I belong to the greatest man alive. I want to walk proud on your arm, but if I do these things, what would happen? You would have to stop being Captain America. Every life that people like Doom or the Brotherhood took, a life you felt you didn't protect, would kill you a little more. I would have you with me always, but I would lose you all the same. To have you whole in this place is worth the mask. There will be a day when you can be just Steve Rogers, but until then, this is better than any alternative I can see.” 

With that, Loki took Steve’s hand and led him to bed. There, they simply held each other, needing the closeness right now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought I had you back, but guess I was wrong. What the hell are you doing with a villain, Steve?” Said Natasha, clearly angry.

Ch 2

Natasha was just about to give up when Steve left the apartment with a beautiful women on his arm. So that was it, Steve had a girlfriend. Given the line of work he was in, it was no wonder that he kept her a secret. She was just about to leave when the women turned her head. It was the women whom she had seen dancing with Steve months ago. Loki, it had to be. She stepped out of the car and began following them. All this time, Loki had been playing Steve, pretending he was someone else. It stops today. 

They headed to the park, enjoying the sun. They looked like a good couple which made this worse. They walked round the lake for a while then headed to the shops. This was better, lots of dark allies. Natasha pulled closer Loki. Just as they past one of the back streets, a Captain America fan asked for a photo. Loki moved away out of shoot.

This was Natasha chance. She stuck a gun in Loki’s back and dragged her into the alley. She had 2min tops. She spun her round and looked in her face. 

“Loki, what are you playing at? What do you think you can gain from this? If you’re trying to hurt him, I will finish you.” growled the Black Widow

“Natasha” Steve shouted. They had gotten a good way from the street, so the chances of being disturbed were slim.

“Relax, Steve, I’ve got this. Loki just playing his tricks, that’s all,” Natasha backed off now, happy she had resolved the situation. Loki dropped the glamour, taking his normal form. Steve walked past Natasha and taking hold of Loki's hand, turned to face his friend. Natasha looked shocked.

“What do you think your doing?” Steve demanded 

“I thought I had your back, but guess I was wrong. What the hell are you doing with a villain, Steve?” Said Natasha, clearly angry. 

“What I’m doing with my husband is none of your business.”

“Your husband?” Natasha was floored. “Is that why he always there?” 

Steve sighed. This wasn’t Natasha fault and as much as he tried, he couldn’t get angry with her. He turned to Loki. “Go back to the apartment, babe. We'll be there soon”

Loki looked daggers at the Widow. He had kept quite and resisted the urge to snap her in half, for Steve. He glared at her before teleporting away. Steve looked at Natasha now.

“We’re getting coffee and we’re going to talk. I need you to understand, please Natasha.”

Natasha didn’t trust herself to speak, but she nodded.

 

They both headed to a coffee shop back on the main street. They sat quite and said nothing for 20min. It was Natasha the spoke first.

“Steve how can you trust him? He tried to take over the planet, to enslave us.” She asked.

“It’s easy. That’s not him any more. He spent a lot of time in a prison on Asgard; after they found out he was alive. Time moves differently there then on Earth. Did you know that Thor had been away for nearly a century after New Mexico? Anyway, they broke him. I don’t know how, he never said but when I found him, he was a shell of the man we fought. He nearly didn’t make it.” Explained Steve

“How do you know he wasn’t playing you? God of mischief and lies remember.” Countered Natasha.

“You didn’t see him. You don’t sleep next to him when the nightmares hit, when he has panic attacks. I’m telling you, it real.”

"and what has Thor said about all this?"

"He knows I've seen Loki, but that’s it. He wants to take Loki back to Asgard to continue his punishment. I don’t think he really knows what is happening. He motioned he didn't visit Loki in prison at all. Loki doesn’t want him to know, he is frightened what Thor would do in Asgard."

"OK so he had a bad time in Asgard, still I don’t understand you thinking you can trust him.”

“I love him and he loves me. I don’t know what else to tell you.” Steve put his head in his hands. Natasha didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, Steve was involved with a powerful being that happened to have a screw lose. On the other hand, Steve had looked so happy when they were in the park. Natasha decided that there was something else she needed to know. 

“How did it happen?”

“It just did. I was taking care of him, we just fit so easily. Not meaning to sound corny but I think we were meant to be together. We got married in Canada 7 months ago. I won’t give him up, Natasha.” Steve smiled at the memory. He looked at her now “what will you do now? I need to know of you trust me enough.”

“I trust you Steve but I’ve seen him control minds. Are you sure this is really what you want?” 

“Like I said, there isn’t much I can say. The ball is in your court now. I won’t leave him. If you think I’m compromised, I’ll walk away from the Avengers.”

“You would do that for him?” Natasha asked

“No he has never needed big gestures. In fact, he is the one that keeps pushing me to fight the next fight, to finish the mission. But I can’t be part of the team if you can’t trust me.”

That was the question. On a mission, she trusted Steve with her life. Hell, apart from Clint, he was the closet thing to a family she had. But this was the outside. Could she trust him to know his own mind, to make the right choice?

She took a deep breath. “Alright Steve. You had better taken me to meet your husband. I can’t say I like this or that I can trust him. I know you, I trust you. I’ll give him a chance OK. That’s the best I can do.”

Steve eyes brightened and he smiled. They paid the bill and started heading back to the apartment. At the door Natasha grabbed Steve’s arm. “I want to talk to him, just me and him. I won’t hurt him, I swear.”

Steve looked a little panicky but nodded. He turned and opened the door. 

Loki walked out the kitchen “Steve, has that insufferable woman go……..right she is here.” With that he turned and went into the bedroom. Steve groaned, looked sideways at Natasha then followed Loki. Natasha made herself a cup of tea and sat down to wait. 

 

Loki was sat on the bed. He looked upset. “Are we running, Steve or is it just me? I can go to Alfhiem. I can hide there; it should be safe for a while. I can go now, come back in a few years…….”

Steve grabbed Loki shoulder. “Stop. There’ll be no running and you’re not hiding anywhere. We go or stay together.” 

To prove this Steve pulled out a chain round his neck with a small gold ring on it. He took the ring off the chain and slide onto his ring finger. He held up his wedding band as if to say no more hiding. Loki pulled Steve in close now, the waiting from the past hour finally caught up with him in a sea of emotion.

After a while, Steve pulled away and continued “She wants to talk to you alone. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. But could you try, for me? It would mean a lot, not having to look over my shoulder every time I’m with you to see if she’s there”

Loki took Steve’s hand and ran his fingers along the lines in his palm. Looking down he said “She means that much to you, doesn’t she.”

“Loki, there is only one person more important to me then her and that’s you. She is the one person who has been with me almost since I woke up. I want her to understand and be happy for me. Is it too much for me to ask? Is the universe so cruel, that I can’t have such small things as my husband and my best friend?”

Loki shook his head. “It can be, my love. I am not. I will talk to the Widow and I will not kill her, unless she tries to kill me.”

“I’ll make sure she knows that,” replied Steve trying not to look too serious.

Steve exited the apartment, going out for more takeaway. Loki sat in the couch across from Natasha and waited for her to begin.  
“So, it looks like you know our Captain pretty well after all.” Natasha said wanting to start with something light.

Loki simply stared, his face like marble. “I did not tell a complete lie. Steve is still very much a wonder to me, partly his ability to love me. The only lie was that he was my enemy. As you can see, he is anything but.”

Natasha nodded. Straight down to business seemed to be the way forward so here we go. “Loki, you can guess I have doubts. I see Steve loves you but I’m not a naïve as him. I see the world as it really is, hard and cruel. I want to hear from your own month, that this isn’t a plan to control or manipulate him, because if you hurt him like that I will tear you apart and anyplace you might be hiding.”

“I see why he trusts you the way he does. I can tell you, Wid…….. Natasha, that keeping this hidden from you has hurt him a lot. You see, I have been looking for Barnes for him so the only other person who knows about us Wilson. He is desperate for you approval.” Loki thought for a moment about what Natasha has asked “As for you question, I have loved Steve since I saw him all those years ago in Germany. Why do you think I didn’t kill him then? It would have been easy. After I was discovered again, I spent 50 years being tortured on Asgard. I nearly forgot who I was, but the light that kept me sane was his. I had no way of knowing if he did or even could love me back. Still, he was my life line and my sanctuary when I escaped. No, my dear, there is no evil plan, I am just trying to love my Captain the best way I can and hoping it is enough.”

Natasha didn’t think she would ever be convinced by words alone, but here she was, fighting back tears. What he had said was simply and clear. She had heard him lie before and knew how he twisted words to suit a purpose. There was none of that here and she could understand how Steve could love this man.

“You can’t get to be together very much. I know he only spends a few days here when he can.”

“It has been hard and I know he worries that it will all become too much and I will leave him. That is why I come to him in disguise as much as possible. It is normal on Asgard for duty to keep loved ones apart, but Steve feels the separation keenly.”

Steve arrived back then, and with Loki’s help dished out the food.

After eating, Natasha dragged Steve to the side. “Ok, I’m convinced, but you can’t carry on living like this, its not fair on either of you. Why don’t you moved down here permanently? You can travel back and forth and I’ll be on hand at HQ. Plus I’m sure your husband can get you there quickly if needed.”

Steve grabbed her into a big hug. This was it; maybe he could have a more normal life and still help the world. He looked at Loki and knew everything would work out just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second part. This got away from me a little. It was suppose to be light but I realised that Natasha was action first not words. Still seemed to go ok in the end.

**Author's Note:**

> hey all. this is my second work so again all feedback welcome. I seem to have a theme going to the moment as some of my current ideas are running along the same lines, so I might end up grouping them all into one collection. thoughts please.


End file.
